Equine Supplement Shows Promise For Improving Gut Health

Collaborating on three recent research papers on a nutraceutical called “Gs Formula,” Dr. Wendy Pearson of the University of Guelph has been very busy. Approached by GS Organic solutions out in British Columbia, Pearson has been investigating the potential for Gs Formula to improve gastric health, particularly for horses with a history of lower severity colic episodes.

In the first study, we found that there was actually a significant increase in contractility of gastric smooth muscle when the smooth muscle was exposed to the GS Formula,” said Pearson of the first in vitro study. “The smooth muscle strips became more sensitive to a contractile stimulus (acetylcholine), which may indicate an application of the product to increasing contractility of the GI tract.” A feed additive that can accelerate transit time of food through the horse's digestive tract could prove hugely beneficial to horses at risk for developing impaction colic.

The second in vitro study also pointed to a role in accelerating gastric transit time, noting that small pieces of gastric mucosa cultured in the presence of Gs Formula produced an increased amount of a hormone (gastrin), which promotes contractility of the stomach.

Watch this video interview to find out what happened in the third study involving Standardbred racehorses.

Dr. Pearson has been involved in Nutraceutical studies since 1997 and can attest to the progress in the field as far as regulations go, including there is now oversight from Health Canada. When asked the hallmarks of a supplement backed by research, Pearson says “a horse person's best protection is to buy products from companies that invest in objective third party research.” Pearson goes on to explain efficacy research is still a big problem. A lot of the research that's used to scientifically back products is not on the actual product; it's on research that other companies have done on similar products, or from research on individual ingredients. But there are a few equine supplement companies making substantial investments in their product line by conducting evidence-based product research.

“The future of nutraceuticals is very exciting, and the sky is the limit,” says Pearson, “the interest and the availability of research funding for this type of research is growing and that's really coming from the manufacturers, so they deserve a big shout out.”

Read more at Equine Guelph.

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Equine Asthma Causes Thickening of Arterial Walls In Lungs

Researchers have found that horses with severe asthma also have arterial walls that are thickened in the lung. This condition can also be found in humans that have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; it contributes to pulmonary hypertension.

Severe asthma in horses is chronic lower airway disease; airway obstruction recurs when the horse is exposed to environmental triggers like hay mites and fungi. Drs. Serena Ceriotti, Michela Bullone, Mathilde Leclere, Francesco Ferrucci and Jean-Pierre Lavoie wanted to see if there were changes to the pulmonary arteries in asthmatic horses and how widely distributed these changes were. They also sought to see if the condition was reversible, either by inhaling corticosteroids or by avoiding allergens.

The study found that both actively asthmatic horses and those in remission had increased wall areas and that the pulmonary artery smooth muscle mass was increased. Both inhaled corticosteroids and allergen avoidance reversed the wall increase, but the smooth muscle only returned to normal during avoidance.

They concluded that equine asthma caused thickening of smooth muscle mass in pulmonary arteries.  They also determined that the narrowing of the arteries could contribute to pulmonary hypertension. Avoiding triggers was found to be more effective than inhaled corticosteroids to control the disease.

Read the full study here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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